Scared Puppy

[terror x 3]

Hey guys, I have 3 dogs a mini daxi, a shih tzu and her 4 month old pup. I take them to the dog park on a regular basis and they are always very socialble but lately the puppy (rockstar) has starting getting really scared of the other dogs and tries to hide by me. He was trampled by a puppy malamute (which was quite large) I had tried moving the dogs away but the pup kept following us and its owner was doing nothing to stop its behaviour.

I took Rocky to my friends place to meet her new french bulldog puppy and he totally freaked!he kept baring his teeth and barking and hiding between my legs. i didnt really respond to him as i try not to "baby" my dogs but i didnt want him biting my friends dog either.

Is there anything i can do to help him build his confidence?

His 3yr old father has the same problem and cant be taken where there is going to be lots of dogs or he goes mental.

I absolutely love taking my dogs out so i dont want this to effect his life. he gets along well with his father and my parents 2 other dogs so i dont know whats going on.

any advice wld be great cos i dont want my baby being scared anymore

Edited April 24, 2007 by terror x 3

[Miranda]

If I was a 4 month old shih tzu and I was trampled by a malamute puppy I'd probably be pretty wary of strange dogs too, things like this can affect a puppy for life which is why I would never take a small puppy to a dog park, there are just too many irresponsible dog owners with uncontrollable dogs.

I would suggest that you don't force him to meet other dogs, taking a nervous puppy into another dog's environment isn't going to help things at all, it will just make him worse. Start taking him to puppy classes at an obedience club, in this way he will meet other dogs in a controlled environment and you won't have to worry about large unruly dogs jumping all over him. It may take a while, but hopefully he will gradually become more confident.

[terror x 3]

thanks for the advice!i dont want to take the fun of the dog park away from him cos he loves it so much, so ive started just taking him to quiet areas so he can still run around....and boy can he run!he's a really good boy and always comes when called. im actaully surprised at how obedient he is for such a young dog.

I hope he'll get his confidence back cos b4 the malamute incident he was the bravest puppy in the world!

[badboyz]

Agree with Miranda. Classes at an obedience school. He will get used to being around lots and lots of dogs in a safe environment. He will learn to ignore them and look to you for guidance. And it will be fun for both of you.

[Guest Willow]

totally agree with miranda. Check with the instructor of the class what the mix of dogs will be in the class you attend.....maybe pick a class that isn't full of large pups other wise it might still freak your puppy out. and also check if they only let one or two pups off the lead at once for supervised play, or whether it will be a free for all!!!

Good luck

[Kaz]

Structured classes are a great way to help him get over his fear of other dogs.

You could try turning up at the dogpark at really ungodly hours so there are very few people there if any.

How about organising play dates swith other pups and dogs who you know to be friendly and whose owners you trust to be in control.

[peibe]

Sounds like he is genetically scared

This is why dogs with temp problems should not be used as breeding stock

Goodluck

[terror x 3]

i didnt breed my girl with the male on purpose, i didnt even know she was on heat til it was too late and i wasnt gonna terminate the pregnancy cos of that. rocky is doing much better now thanks to everyone that had something constructive to say

[terror x 3]

I have taken alot of care in introducing Rocky back into the dog park and now he's back to his normal self! He was playing with a GS just the other day and having the time of his life! Turns out "bad breeding" wasnt an issue

[Summer's Edge]

Hey guys, I have 3 dogs a mini daxi, a shih tzu and her 4 month old pup. I take them to the dog park on a regular basis and they are always very socialble but lately the puppy (rockstar) has starting getting really scared of the other dogs and tries to hide by me. He was trampled by a puppy malamute (which was quite large) I had tried moving the dogs away but the pup kept following us and its owner was doing nothing to stop its behaviour.

I took Rocky to my friends place to meet her new french bulldog puppy and he totally freaked!he kept baring his teeth and barking and hiding between my legs. i didnt really respond to him as i try not to "baby" my dogs but i didnt want him biting my friends dog either.

Is there anything i can do to help him build his confidence?

His 3yr old father has the same problem and cant be taken where there is going to be lots of dogs or he goes mental.

I absolutely love taking my dogs out so i dont want this to effect his life. he gets along well with his father and my parents 2 other dogs so i dont know whats going on.

any advice wld be great cos i dont want my baby being scared anymore

He/She is quite probably going through the "fear" stage (which I've read up about in books - How to train your Siberian Husky - not personal experience) - you just need to reassure your pup that what he/she is afraid is actually nothing to be afraid of at all. According to the book, if you cuddle your pup when he's afraid, he'll associate that with praise thinking it's ok to be scared of the other dogs, instead, walk up to the other dog and touch it saying "look at this, it's ok". Hope this helps.

[peibe]

i didnt breed my girl with the male on purpose, i didnt even know she was on heat til it was too late and i wasnt gonna terminate the pregnancy cos of that. rocky is doing much better now thanks to everyone that had something constructive to say

I did have something constructive to say, desexing dogs is important and not breeding dogs with bad temps is important too

What did you think? You could have a female and male dog neither are desexed and you would not get puppies

I suppose you gave the other pups away free to friends?

Sorry but that quote above shits me to tears, if everyone out there stopped having accidental litters thousands of dogs would not die every year

[terror x 3]

i didnt breed my girl with the male on purpose, i didnt even know she was on heat til it was too late and i wasnt gonna terminate the pregnancy cos of that. rocky is doing much better now thanks to everyone that had something constructive to say

I did have something constructive to say, desexing dogs is important and not breeding dogs with bad temps is important too

What did you think? You could have a female and male dog neither are desexed and you would not get puppies

I suppose you gave the other pups away free to friends?

Sorry but that quote above shits me to tears, if everyone out there stopped having accidental litters thousands of dogs would not die every year

It wasnt constructive at all it was yet another bitchy comment that ppl tend to like leaving on here. Before u get up on ur high horse u might wanna know all the facts!

I strongly believe in de-sexing and all my dogs are de-sexed aside from the puppy cos he's too young. The dog she mated with lives at my parents and i took her for a visit not knowing she was on heat....thats how she got pregnant.

No i didnt give the puppies away to friends i sold them to ppl i chose very carefully as i didnt want them going to bad homes cos id bonded with every one of them.

I dont know why i bother posting anything on here, it seems like unless ur a breeder or u show ur dogs ur opinion or questions are meaningless.

[peibe]

That is where you are wrong, I am not a breeder or shower, I am a rescuer

Where all the pups desexed before they where rehomed? If not more accidents will happen

and if you bother to read any of my posts you will understand that I normally am not a bitch, but accidental litters from seemingly intelligent people have to stop

[poodlefan]

I would predict that if you continue allow your Shih Tzu to play with large unknown dogs in a public off lead park that one day he will get badly frightened again or hurt. A dog doesn't have to mean do it but one big foot on your pup could be permanent injury. Small fluffy dogs also trigger strong prey responses in some large dogs. If a group of larger dogs single him out for chasing and if he's grabbed, then he could be in very serious trouble.

Incidents happen in offlead parks all the time. A dog of that size won't get a second chance if it meets the wrong dog.

Keep his play restricted to mixing with smaller dogs or don't go there at all. Parks are frequented by dogs whose owners can't control them and by dogs with aggression issues.

Your dogs are displaying fear responses to situations/dogs that make them feel unsafe. What you consider to be "enjoyable" for them, clearly isn't. If you want your pup to grow up confident than don't over face him in offleash parks.. keep the interactions limited to a few dogs and to smaller ones or large dogs that you know are OK.

It is not "babying" your dogs to protect them in situations where they are clearly frightened. You don't have to mollycoddle them but you can keep them safe.

Edited May 18, 2007 by poodlefan

[Animal House]

i didnt breed my girl with the male on purpose, i didnt even know she was on heat til it was too late and i wasnt gonna terminate the pregnancy cos of that. rocky is doing much better now thanks to everyone that had something constructive to say

I did have something constructive to say, desexing dogs is important and not breeding dogs with bad temps is important too

What did you think? You could have a female and male dog neither are desexed and you would not get puppies

I suppose you gave the other pups away free to friends?

Sorry but that quote above shits me to tears, if everyone out there stopped having accidental litters thousands of dogs would not die every year

It wasnt constructive at all it was yet another bitchy comment that ppl tend to like leaving on here. Before u get up on ur high horse u might wanna know all the facts!

I strongly believe in de-sexing and all my dogs are de-sexed aside from the puppy cos he's too young. The dog she mated with lives at my parents and i took her for a visit not knowing she was on heat....thats how she got pregnant.

No i didnt give the puppies away to friends i sold them to ppl i chose very carefully as i didnt want them going to bad homes cos id bonded with every one of them.

I dont know why i bother posting anything on here, it seems like unless ur a breeder or u show ur dogs ur opinion or questions are meaningless.

If you strongly believed in desexing then you would get the puppy done before he is 6 months old, hes certainly not too young even now.

Bitches are more important to be desexed as early as possible....how old was she when she got pregnant?

[terror x 3]

I havent had the pup de-sexed yet as I thought their testicles had to drop completely before they could be done???

the bitch was about a year and a half in her second heat when she got pregnant although i cant be 100% sure cos i rescued her. she was de-sexed after all the puppies had gone when my vet gave me the go ahead.

I realise that accidental litters are mainly why so many animals get dumped etc and I had every intention of de-sexing her before she got pregnant.

As for the off leash park, when im walking I walk around the perimeter and keep my dogs away from others as much as possible unless I know the other dog cos I am always concerned another dog could attack or something similar.

I think that answered all the questions

[peibe]

I did not mean to bite your head off, I am just sick of all the dogs out there

I own Shar Pei, and I never take my dogs to off leash parks, not because they start trouble but one reason is if someone starts on them, they finish it.

I think dog leash free parks are an accident waiting to happen, I have noticed at alot of them the main dogs there are undertrained and aggressive

I keep my walks to street walking and we go to the beach and lake when there are not alot of other dogs around. They are never allowed off lead. My Pei where raised with lots of different dogs, especially small ones, they want to play with them all but can scare the crap out of them as they charge up

If I was you I would keep your dog out of situations that cause him stress. Go back to Puppy Preschool with him and start again

ETA, pups as young as 8 weeks can be desexed, once he has 2 testes he can be done, but the vet can also find them if they are not both down.

Edited May 18, 2007 by peibe

[Willesden Goldens]

terrier x 3 - I learnt something interesting in puppy school last week which might shed some light on the problems you're having. Dogs go through fear periods around the age of 8-16wks and 6-14months. Your puppy might become panic stricken about something they've seen/heard/experienced many times before.

The trainer said not to force the puppy to confront the thing he fears, but to be calm and non-fearful yourself. She said to treat the thing the puppy fears with disdain and he will take reassurance from you and not to over-protect or display too much concern.

Our 11 mth puppy went through a period of barking in the middle of the night for no reason - we would go out to find his hackles up and barking at nothing. This lasted for about 2 weeks and then suddenly stopped. If we had have known the fear period info at the time, we wouldn't have been so worried.

Hope this helps.

[Animal House]

I havent had the pup de-sexed yet as I thought their testicles had to drop completely before they could be done???

the bitch was about a year and a half in her second heat when she got pregnant although i cant be 100% sure cos i rescued her. she was de-sexed after all the puppies had gone when my vet gave me the go ahead.

I realise that accidental litters are mainly why so many animals get dumped etc and I had every intention of de-sexing her before she got pregnant.

As for the off leash park, when im walking I walk around the perimeter and keep my dogs away from others as much as possible unless I know the other dog cos I am always concerned another dog could attack or something similar.

I think that answered all the questions

Okay.....so your bitch was 18 months old when she got pregnant & she had already been on heat once? Sorry, but that is just being irresponsible Plain and simple.

Lots of people have good intentions......pity they cant act on them though. :shakehead:

[terror x 3]

terrier x 3 - I learnt something interesting in puppy school last week which might shed some light on the problems you're having. Dogs go through fear periods around the age of 8-16wks and 6-14months. Your puppy might become panic stricken about something they've seen/heard/experienced many times before.

The trainer said not to force the puppy to confront the thing he fears, but to be calm and non-fearful yourself. She said to treat the thing the puppy fears with disdain and he will take reassurance from you and not to over-protect or display too much concern.

Our 11 mth puppy went through a period of barking in the middle of the night for no reason - we would go out to find his hackles up and barking at nothing. This lasted for about 2 weeks and then suddenly stopped. If we had have known the fear period info at the time, we wouldn't have been so worried.

Hope this helps.

yeah thanks for that, he's all good again now tho i think he just got a big fright. now i take EXTRA SUPER care when walking him!